Japanese Ganesha

Last time we read about the female Ganesha. On the final day of Ganapati’s earthly visit, let us look at a ‘foreign’ Ganapati! Today, we will discuss the Japanese Ganapati, who is better known as Kangiten. Besides Kangiten, which means the God of Bliss, he is also called Shoten, i.e. a sacred god, or Binayaka (from Vinayaka), amongst other names.

It is interesting to note that according to the Japanese, Binayaka is the creator of obstacles, and that is why he needs to be propitiated, unlike the Indian Ganesha, who is the remover of obstacles, Vighnaharta. However, one (probably pre-puranic) version considers the Indian Ganesha to be a threshold deity, who had to be propitiated at thresholds, like borders of villages, etc. to ensure that the commuters were not harassed for anything. This was considered to be one of the main reasons why Ganesha was propitiated before beginning anything, from travel to events to rituals. This theory has now been overlooked in view of the more sanitised version of the modern day Ganesha, being worshiped first due to a boon by Lord Shiva!

According to an ancient Japanese text, Subako-Doji-Shoman-Kyo, the Binayakas were known to create serious obstacles for the ascetics who tried to devote their lives to religion and religious practices. According to the text, Binayaka was known to create loss of sleep in ascetics, appearing in different evil forms and naked figures, skulls and bones in the dreams of the ascetics. All these were considered to be different forms of Binayakas which tried to disturb them and create obstacles for those who were trying to follow the religious path.

Besides the above, other obstacles created by the Binayaka were, causing various types of diseases, like increase in body temperature and some minor ailments, arousing unlawful desires like sexual desires, love for widows, hunger for meat and wine, making them arrogant, etc. Propitiation of Binayaka was mainly to overcome such obstacles

The worship of the Indian Ganesha is supposed to

have traveled from India to China where it became part of the Buddhist pantheon and then traveled further to Japan, where it gained prominence, as Binayaka. The most important form of this deity is the dual-Binayaka or the Embracing Kangiten, where both male and female forms are seen embracing each other.

There are different legends to explain the embracing Binayaka’s. Let us look at some of them.

According to one legend, a 17^th century monk by the name of Kozam Tanki, couldn’t attain the ultimate truth, in spite of severe austerities. He then started praying to Shoten and uttered his mantra 18000 times a day. He had a dream, where he found himself pouring oil over a statue. He then saw himself taking bath, purifying himself and entering into a chamber which was decorated with jewels, with an altar on which was placed an idol of the embracing deities. A female deity appeared there and explained to him the two embracing deities were none other than the sun-goddess and the god Isangi. Later the monk devoted his life in the worship of the embracing Binayaka’s.

Courtesy - Wikipedia

According to another version, the King of Marakeira had an odd habit of eating only beef and radish and that too in very large quantities. Soon the population of cattle diminished in the kingdom, and so he took to eating human flesh and reached a stage where he could not spare even dead bodies. Seeing this people were terrified, and together with the soldiers attacked the king who fled into the skies. In the absence of the king, there were calamities and epidemics which were the doings of the Binayaka. The people prayed to Kannon (Avalokiteswara, a Bodhisatva), the eleven-faced deity, to save them from the predicament. Kannon disguised as a female Binayaka, seduced the King and brought him to mend his ways and the embracing Binayakas are the representation of the King and Kannon.

Another version says that Daijizai-ten (Mahesvara) and his wife Uma had three thousand children, half of which were benevolent and were under the command of his son, Senanayaka (Kartikeya) and the other half were wicked under the command of Binayaka. The people were tired of the troubles by the Binayakas and prayed to Kannon, who then took the form of a woman and aroused the passion in Binayaka and convinced him to follow the righteous path.

A slight variation to the above says that Senanayaka was born as a female child and was an incarnation of Kannon. She managed to pacify the agitated mind of Binayaka by her pleasing habits. The two of them ultimately unite as a brother-sister couple to give rise to the twin Binayaka form.

One of the most famous temples of Kangiten is the temple of Hozan-ji in Japan. He is regarded as the protector of temples and amongst the offerings made to the deity are radishes and rice-wine (sake).

It is important to mention that there is a strong sexual-connotation to the embracing deity, even though we have seen in the last instant as the couple being brother-sister. This sexual connotation was during the tantric influence in Buddhism. However, with rise of the Confusion philosophy, the idols or the statues of the embracing Binayakas were kept behind closed doors or were kept under linga-kosa or phallic covers. The worship didn’t quite cease and it is said that women bow to such idols to seek blessings of children from them, while geishas seek the blessings of active flow of clients at their place!

Legends apart, an interesting metamorphosis of one of the most popular and favoured god of the Hindu pantheon.

NB. Some references have been taken from ‘Ganesha – The Remover of Obstacles’ by Shantilal Nagar.

Ganesha and Ravana

Ravana, the demon King from the epic Ramayana, was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. Once Ravana went to Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva and after severe penance got a boon of invincibility from Shiva. Lord Shiva gave him a lingam (also referred to as atma-lingam) and told him to carry it to Lanka by foot and while on his journey back home, he should never put it on the ground and if he did, then the boon would not materialize and he would lose the lingam to the place he kept it. Some versions of the myth say that Ravana attained this boon after reciting the Shiva Tandav Stotram, which was composed by him in honour of Lord Shiva.

A statue from the temple premises

Seeing this, other gods were worried about the boon. They then requested Lord Ganesha to do something and somehow stop Ravana from getting invincible. Ganesha through his yogic powers filled Ravanas stomach with water. Soon Ravana could hold it no longer and he had to relieve himself. Ganesha took the form of a child and approached Ravana. Ravana asked the child if he could hold it for some time, till he relieved himself, but should not put it down. Ganesha in his disguise agreed to do so, but also mentioned that if the lingam got heavy then he would place it on the ground, but then he would call him before doing so.

Ganesha held on to the lingam and no sooner had Ravana left, he cried out saying he could not hold it as it was getting heavier by the moment. He called out for Ravana three times, but Ravana could not return on time. Ganesha then left the lingam on the ground and ran away. Ravana came to the spot, and tried to move the lingam, but could not. He put all the pressure of his twenty hands, but could not move the lingam. However, due to the enormous pressure, applied by him the shape of the region changed to resemble the ear of a cow and hence the place is now known as Gokarna (ear of the cow) which lies in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. Since then the lingam at Gokarna is known as the Mahabaleshwar lingam (maha – great, bal – power, strength and eshwar – god) as the lingam could not be moved even by the strength of the mighty Ravana.

Gokarna Mahabaleshwar Temple

When Ravana realized that he was cheated by a child, he chased the child to hit him on his head. Later Ganesha took his original form. It is said that the Ganesha idol in the premises of the temple has a hollow in the head which was formed after Ravana hit him there. The idol is thus also referred to as Kuttu (to hit with folded fists) Ganesha. The devotees worship the idol by gently tapping on the head of the idol with folded fists!

Some versions say that Ravana took the help of the child, as it was evening and time for him to perform the sandhya vandana (evening prayers).

This myth signifies the contribution of Lord Ganesha from stopping Ravana from becoming invincible. The myth also lends credence to the divine association with the region and the temple which has religious attractions like the temple. Gokarna is considered to be a centre of Sanskrit learning and many Hindus from the nearby regions perform the last rites of the dead at Gokarna.

The ten day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi comes to an end today, and so does my series on Ganapati.

As they say in aamchi Mumbai – 

Ganpati Bappa Moriya Pudhchya Varshi Lavkar yaa (meaning - Oh Ganpati My Lord, return soon next year)!!

Ganapati in South India

The 10-day Ganapati festival started last week and I have not put up a single article on my friend Ganesha, and yesterday I got a knock on my head by his divine trunk! So here’s a short one, for all who missed the deity on my Blog!

Ganapati is a deity revered all over the country. However, as I have mentioned earlier, he is a celibate in South India which is different from the rest of India. (Refer to http://utkarshspeak.blogspot.in/2010/09/ganesh-marriage.html dated 12/9/2010). The reason of his celibacy is a subject which needs an elaborate discussion. But today, let’s see how Ganapati was responsible for bringing the river Kaveri (also spelled as Cauvery) to South India.

According to a legend, to celebrate the marriage of Lord Shiva and Parvati, all the gods, sages, people, birds and animals travelled up to North. This caused a bit of an imbalance on earth, with all the pressure tilting towards the North. Seeing this, Shiva asked Rishi Agastya to go down to the South and ensure that the balance was restored. Agastya was saddened by this task as this would mean that he would not be able to witness the wedding. Lord Shiva understood his plight and told him that he would ensure that he got to view the wedding sitting in South. He then gave some water of river Ganga from his matted locks, so that he could release the waters in South as the region was suffering from a lack of water in those days.

Soon Agastya reached the southern parts of the country, with the waters in his kamadala, a pot, and got busy with his penance and didn’t release the waters. Time passed and unknown to the Rishi, the dryness reached a critical state. Lord Ganesha on the advice of Narada Muni, took the form of a crow, went and sat on the kamandala, thus toppling it and allowing the waters to flow. The river is known as Kaveri, as it was enabled by a crow.

Another version of the story says that the river Kaveri was earlier known as Ponni and had been disrespectful to Rishi Agastya. In his anger, he had punished her by trapping her in his kamandala. On the suggestion of Narada Muni, Lord Ganesha took the form of a crow and released the trapped waters and thereafter the river Ponni was known as Kaveri.

The place where the water was spilt by Ganesha has come to be known as the Thalakaveri and on the site is a thriving temple by the same name, near Bhagamandala in Kodagu district, Karnataka, India.

The Thalakaveri Temple

Quite a simple myth anybody would say. Such myths have a very limited function. They establish divinity to some rivers, which do not have anything as grand as the myth associated with River Ganga. Rivers have been revered in our country and such divine associations go a long way in granting them the same significance as given to some of the Northern Rivers like Ganga and Yamuna, who were both mythological characters. In days when traveling was not very common, such myths lent credibility to the idea that bathing in such rivers was as good as bathing in Ganga.  Another important fact is that the Southern parts of India are known for the cult of Skanda, i.e. Kartikeya, the other son of Lord Shiva. Such minor myths gave some foothold to an otherwise well known deity like Ganapati.

Next we will see another similar contribution of Ganapati to South India.